292. Postal Saving Bank, Vienna

Dear Tanu,

The grand Kassenhalle is one of Otto Wagner's most
famous masterpieces and one of the finest examples of
Viennese architecture. Wagner was here able to
combine the vision of a new Postal Savings Bank with
that of a new and modern architecture.

Best regards.
R

291. Stockholms Hogre Allmanna Laroverk for Flickor, Sveaplan

Dear Jan,

This ravishing school located in Sweden was built by
architects Ahrbom & Zimdal along with many
other incredible schools all over this country. Before
that Ahrbom participated in the 1930 Stockholm
exhibition housing department, where he worked with
other architects as Ahren, Markelius, Lewerentz or
Hedqvist, designing new functionalist Swedish housing
prototypes.

Best.
R

290. Barcelona. Vila Olimpica, Platja de Sant Miquel

Dear Frank,

It seems to me that the little fish that once swan in the
bathtub of your parents house when you were a child
grew up a little too much. Now he is ready to go back
to the ocean... or at least to the Mediterranean Sea.

Take care.
R

289. Bruxelles Woluwe. Villa Stoclet

Dear Louis,

The surfaces of the Palais Stoclet are presented by
Hoffmann as defined spaces by means of framing them.
Even the windows, also framed, deny the plasticity of
the otherwise coherent volume.

Love.
R

288. Pampulha. Igreja da Pampulha

Querida Cristi,

Cuando veo este arco parabolico de Niemeyer recuerdo
los arcos de los grandes hangares de Freyssenet en Orly.
Cuando veo esos azulejos azulados, los paños
maravillosamente alicatados en las calles y miradores de
Lisboa.

Mil besos.
R

287. Orly. Les Hangars a Dirigeables

Dear Jennifer,

Freyssinet's airship hangars at Orly were parabolic
(a funicular arch shape) in section and relied upon
pre-tressed members. Between arches, continuous
light openings allowed getting plenty of natural light
within the gigantic interior space. In this manner these
spaces resembled somehow the same atmosphere of
a large gothic cathedral.

All the best.
R

286. Amsterdam. Erasmushuis

Dear Herman,

Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright,
Dudok’s mature style is often referred
to as Cubistic Expressionism because
of his tendency to emphasize
horizontal and vertical elements.

Regards
R

285. Frankfurt a M Haus van Arbeit

Dear Goran,

Extreme and convincing Neue
Sachlichkeit architecture in the
Trade Union House. Built in
Frankfurt by Max Taut, it was
finished in 1931.

Best regards
R

284. Ivrea. Stabilimenti Olivetti

Dear Naoko,

This remarkable structure was built in 1935 and extended
in1939 by architects Figini and Pollini for famous Olivetti
Corporation at Ivrea. Featuring a full curtain-wall facade,
the building is meant to minimize physical boundaries
between interior and exterior public realm, showing up by
this way one of the philosophical principle of the company:
to develop strictly rational and logical concepts.

Take care.
R

283. Torres Kio, Madrid

Dear John,

"I like the thought that what we are to do on this earth
is embellish it for its greater beauty, so that oncoming
generations can look back to the shapes we leave here
and get the same thrill that I get in looking back at theirs
- at the Parthenon, at Chartres Cathedral."
(Philip Johnson)
I rather think the project for Puerta Europa of Antoni
Bonet might have been more memorable than the towers
that were built...

Best
R

282. Enskede. Parti av Skogskyrkogarden

Querida Luz,

Maria Zambrano decia que hay que dormirse arriba
en la luz y estar despierto abajo en la oscuridad. Aqui
en el Cementerio del Bosque me he sentido como en
estado de vigilia o como si estuviera viviendo un sueño
lucido.

Todo mi cariño.
R

281. Cranbrook Academy of Art

Dear Miquel,

"No work of art in any field can be considered a work
of art unless it reveals the basic nature of the artist himself". (Eliel Saarinen)
Thanks for the chapel, thanks for the dome, thank you
very much.

Cheers.
R

280. Taranto. Concattedrale Gram Madre di Dio

Dear Anna,

Towards the end of his life Gio Ponti said to his daughter:
"They say that I reached the apex of my creative life with
the Pirelli Tower; but that was in the 1950s. I went on
working for another 20 years, and the cathedral in
Taranto marks another high point"
The new Murcia City Hall built by Rafael Moneo seems
to me to be somehow in debt to this delicate building.

All the best.
R

279. Dessau. Das Bauhaus

Dear Silke,

"...the symmetrical relationships of the parts of the building
and their orientation towards a central axis is being
replaced by a new conception of equilibrium which
transmutes this dead symmetry of similar parts into an
asymmetrical but rhythmical balance" (Walter Gropius)

Best regards
R

278. The Lowry-Salford Quays

Dear Levy,

"...for me, right from the beginning the art of
architecture has always been the priority. That's
what I trained to do (and incidentally its what
students are still trained to do)..." (James Stirling)

Cheers.
R